The first stage of the Championship League Snooker continues on Wednesday when two more groups are played out in the behind closed doors bio-secure bubble over at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.
We saw a big shock on Tuesday so that will have focused the minds of the bigger names that are on show on Wednesday, where both tables have household names and a very competitive look on the fourth day of the competition.
The Format
The whole tour were invited into the tournament with it now getting ranking event status. The 128 man field have been split into 32 groups of four in the first round. Each group is a round robin with everyone playing everyone else over the best of four frames with two points for a win and one for a draw. The player who tops the group goes through to the second stage where the 32 remaining players are split into four more groups of four over the same format. Those eight winners then go into two more groups where the winner of each will battle it out in a best of five frame final for the title. Two groups will be played on each day until the final day when the Championship group and final is played. The first stage of the tournament is on Free Sports.
Day 3 Recap
Stephen Maguire was the main man on show on Tuesday but he offered very little and as we suspected there was a major upset in that group. It was actually Dominic Dale who pipped Leo Fernandez to top spot and it is he who made it through to the next round. Things went to plan on the other table though where Zhou Yuelong made it through when he edged out Zhao Jianbo by a solitary frame over the course of what was a very competitive group throughout the day.
It wasn’t the day we was looking for betting wise though as on his way to winning his group Dominic Dale proved too good for Louis Heathcote although for the second day in a row we was left cursing a player being in control of the opening frame only to lose it and then go on and offer little after that. Hopefully we get better luck over the remainder of the tournament.
Group 7
Fixtures
Ben Woollaston vs Si Jiahui
Matthew Selt vs Yang Gao
Matthew Selt vs Si Jiahui
Ben Woollaston vs Yang Gao
Matthew Selt vs Ben Woollaston
Si Jiahui vs Yang Gao
Preview
We have an open group over on table two on Wednesday when the finalist from the last Championship League, Ben Woollaston attempts to make it through once again. In order to do that he will need to overcome Matt Selt who hasn’t really impressed for a while, as well as the Chinese pair of Si JIahui and Yang Gao, the former we have seen on the tour before while the latter will be making his debut at this level.
Group 8
Fixtures
Shaun Murphy vs Peter Devlin
Martin O’Donnell vs Jimmy White
Martin O’Donnell vs Peter Devlin
Shaun Murphy vs Jimmy White
Jimmy White vs Peter Devlin
Shaun Murphy vs Martin O’Donnell
Preview
The main table has a cracking line up on it as one of the best players in the world, Shaun Murphy, is on show when he gets stuck into a very competitive looking group as he takes on the extremely underrated Martin O’Donnell as well as the evergreen Jimmy White who was last seen winning the World Seniors Championship. Peter Devlin is the other player in the group and he’ll be making his main tour debut here having won his card at Q-School recently.
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Group Betting
I think there might be value to be had in Group 7 where I like the price about Si Jiahui to come through. This is a very open group and even though Ben Woollaston made it all the way to the final group in the previous Championship League you couldn’t call him consistent or anything like that. Matt Selt is the same and he has the ability to blow up at the drop of a hat. Yang Gao is making his debut at this level and he could be anything but whatever he is he isn’t likely to be it on his main tour debut.
Jiahui had some good runs in tournaments last season so we know that he has plenty of talent and that can come through here. In the other group it is hard to go against Shaun Murphy but there’s a couple of players in the section who are playing with a bit of confidence after excellent recent results and over this short format that could be significant. I wouldn’t want to get involved in that group really but I’m happy to be on the Chinese youngster in the other one.
Match Betting
Matt Selt hasn’t really shown anything in terms of form since the Riga Masters last year when he made the semi-final. The last time we saw him he was getting wiped out in World Championship qualifying and prior to that was in the last one of these tournaments where in three matches he only won three frames so it feels like he has to be taken on here. I’m happy to do that with Ben Woollaston.
Woollaston made it all the way to the final group of this competition last term so we know that the format and everything suits him and I think he is probably the more reliable of the two even if he might not be the most consistent. Woollaston scored pretty well in that tournament and seems quite at home in the surroundings which is something we’ve not really seen from Selt. I think the Leicester man is a good bet on the draw no bet market.
Tips
Back S.Jiahui to win Group 7 for a 1/10 stake at 5.00 with Betfred
PUSH – Back B.Woollaston to beat M.Selt (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Coral
Back him here:
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